Actor: Steve Martin

Steve Martin was selling out arenas as a stand-up in the late 1970s and quit entirely, saying the act had become a phenomenon that had nothing to do with comedy.

The Jerk, Roxanne and Planes Trains and Automobiles gave him a film career, and he wrote Roxanne and Bowfinger himself. He is a serious bluegrass banjo player with Grammy wins, has written novels and plays, and has been open that the stand-up years produced considerable anxiety.